


The Healing Power of Purr

by AkiRah



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Aric is awkward and I love it, Chiss Trooper, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, What if Cathar purred?, itty bitty drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 12:48:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10617234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkiRah/pseuds/AkiRah
Summary: Major Jacks Ross of Havoc Squad takes a bad hit and immediately and efficiently panics her XO/SO.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I have a cat and when I'm sad or injured he curls up on my chest and purrs like a diesel engine, so that (and admittedly the shitty title) was the inspiration for this fic. Headcanon: Bothan roar, Cathar purr)

It was a bad shot. One of the imps had lobbed a shrapnel grenade at them and Jacks had leapt at it to keep it from hitting anyone else. They’d patched her up with field kits as best they could and then Elara tended in her in a corner while Tanno, Yuun, Aric and Forex unleashed miserable, laser-y death on their enemies. 

Jacks’s blazing red eyes only fluttered closed once she was stable and the shooting had stopped, like she’d been clinging to consciousness out of sheer ornery refusal to let shock win. She looked at Aric, nodded, and slumped. 

Only Elara’s movement as she continued to work kept his panic in check. 

He was an old soldier and no stranger to death. But she wasn't just a _friend_ and she certainly wasn't just a comrade. She was more to him and he'd somehow managed to ignore the very real possibility that she could die on him.

* * *

Jacks was in the kolto tank for three days, her bandaged stomach leaking red into the blue gel. Aric assumed command, that was his job after all, but Elara had to shoo him out of medlab on his downtime. He got his sleep--because he couldn’t command if he didn’t--but he spent all the time he could sitting by the tank, waiting. At night, when Elara was sleeping, he talked to his conscious lover, telling her stories because he'd heard somewhere that it helped people keep their minds intact while they were comatose for too long. Elara talked to her and Elara was the medic. It seemed like the thing to do.

 _She’ll be fine. It just takes time. She’s fine._ "Up and at 'em, soldier," he ordered in the dark.

* * *

Jacks winced when they fished her out of the kolto and then wrinkled her nose and snorted like she was ashamed of the reaction and forced herself to straighten, despite the obvious pain.

“You need more rest,” Elara said in her _I will not be argued with_ doctor voice. She helped Jacks down onto the bed while Aric hovered uselessly.

Jacks nodded. “I’ll be back at it tomorrow. It’s impossible to get real shut-eye while floating.” "You were comatose," Elara reminded her. "That's why I specified _shut-eye_ , Lieutenant." She rolled her shoulders, trying to make them less stiff. “Debrief at 0700.”

“Yes Sir.” Elara and Aric saluted in unison. 

Jacks returned the gesture slowly and then turned her attention to Aric. “You off duty, Jorgan?” she asked, some of the severity leaving her features. 

He nodded. 

“Can you--” she swallowed but didn’t look away. Looking away would have been like admitting defeat, and she _never_ admitted defeat. “I’m unsteady on my feet. Give me a hand?” 

Aric huffed a dry chuckle and gave her a smile. “Of course.” 

She hissed a sharp inhale as he lifted her, arms tensing with pain when her stomach shifted. 

“Shit, that grenade really did a number on you.” Aric said softly. He’d known, of course. He’d counted the minutes Elara spent behind the locked med-lab door pulling pieces out of his girlfriend.

“I’m fine,” Jacks lied through gritted teeth. “Just help me get to my room.” 

Yuun, Tanno and Forex saluted ( _lazily_ in Tanno’s case and _emphatically_ in Forex’s) as they passed. 

“Debrief. 0700,” Jacks grunted at them. 

“Yes, Sir.” 

* * *

The door closed behind them and Aric set her gingerly on the bed. He helped her under the sheets and then sat on the edge, pulling off his boots and shirt. Jacks gave him a smile, red eyes warm, if too wet for his tastes. “I’m too fucked up for that, Aric,” she teased, opening her arms to welcome him into the bed beside her. They were usually less brazen with their relationship, but it felt freeing.

“Shut up, Jacks.” He slid under the sheets beside her and tensed as Jacks winced and hissed as she shifted to curl against him. “Be care--”

“Can it,” she muttered, fingers smoothing the fur of his chest. “I’m soaked in kolto, my insides feel like they’ve gone through the meat grinder and I’m going to snuggle my stars-damned boyfriend.” 

He kissed her forehead. “I thought I’d lost you.” 

Something hot and wet dripped onto his chest. Jacks shuddered and he tightened his arms around her. He did the only thing he could, he let her cry without commenting on it.

It felt private.

His fingers brushed her shoulder and he closed his eyes, lips pressed to her forehead thinking _I love you_ as loud as he could. Slowly, Aric started to purr, a soft rumbling that began in his sternum and spread out through his chest as high as his throat. Jacks gave a small, wet, laugh in his arms. “My,” he swallowed and cleared his throat, “my mother told me it speeds up the natural healing process in some species.” 

Jacks tilted her head up and caught his mouth with hers. He could smell tears, feel the trace of moisture on her cheeks. But if she wasn't going to say anything, he wasn't going to say anything. Jacks built up the illusion that she was invincible, and he was more than happy to buy into it even now if that was what she needed. 

“Something familiar’ll help me sleep at least.” Jacks said as she pulled away and tucked herself back against him, hissing with pain as she jostled her injuries. 

“Pardon?”

She smiled. “You purr in your sleep when it’s just the two of us.” 

“How do you know I don’t just ...always purr to myself?” He tensed, embarrassed. The purrs ground to a halt. Purring itself was embarrassing. Kittens did it. Well, and parents with their kittens. Lifemates sometimes purred at one another. It was . . . private. 

“I’ve woken you up for mess, Jorgan.” Jacks tucked her head back against him. “It’s soothing, though. Reminds me that you’re there.” 

The purring began again and he felt her breath even out against him as she slowly drifted back to sleep. 

It was private, but she was hurt. 

And he loved her.


End file.
